Graeme Smith Reveals the Name of Indian Cricketers who will be Crucial in South Africa
Published - 18 Dec 2017, 05:30 PM | Updated - 22 Aug 2024, 11:47 PM
Former South African captain Graeme Smith revealed the names of three Indian cricketers who will be crucial for India during the South Africa tour after India clinched 8th consecutive bilateral series win beating Sri Lanka 2-1 at Vishakapatnam.
Smith said the opening batsmen in the form of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, and Rohit Sharma would be the key to India’s success in the upcoming tour of South Africa.
The 36-year-old Smith led the South African team to a 1-0 victory the last time India toured the Rainbow Nation in the 2013-14 season. Smith termed this three Indian batsmen as ‘exciting to watch’ and admitted that they improved both technically and mentally.
“The top three are winning a lot of cricket games. Not only are they consistent, prolific run-getters, they also get it at pace. Each of them has a strike rate of 90 and above. It’s exciting to watch them,” Smith was heard saying during an analysis show after India’s series win.
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He further admitted all the three batsmen have improved since the last time they toured South Africa.
“They all go with more experience, they are better players not only mentally, but also technically. If they [India] are to be successful, their top three, both in the Test format and in the one-day format, need to have big tours,” Smith further mentioned.
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Photo by Deepak Malik / BCCI / Sportzpics
India has turned into a dominant force in the world cricket after their successful run in the recent years, as they are sitting well at the top in the Test rankings and at the second place after South Africa in the ODI rankings.
Kohli tops the batting charts with 1460 ODI runs in 2017, Sharma is second on the list with 1293 runs while Dhawan is fifth with 960 runs.
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However, the main test awaits India, as they are set to tour South Africa, England, Australia and New Zealand in the upcoming months. With the men in blues disastrous results on overseas tours in the recent past, Kohli and his men will have to lift their performance to a new high despite all the positive talks around the balance of the side.
